The recent Los Angeles Creative Pro Users Group (LACPUG) meeting was dedicated to the main features of Final Cut Pro X 10.4. Thanks to LumaForge this presentation has been made available on YouTube. Read on for our summary of the best parts of the presentation.
There are basically 3 main features in version 10.4 of FCPX: 360 VR editing, advanced color grading and HDR support. Let’s discuss about them one by one.
Color Correction and Grading
The interface includes the Color wheels, Color Curves and the Hue and Saturation Curves.
There is a new option of manual white balancing the shot in order to correct the white balance. In my opinion it’s much more preferred than previous white balancing options found on FCPX.
Manual white balance
One of FCPX’s main Achilles’ heel regarding color grading was its inconvenient color board. It was unclear how to use it and it didn’t match the popular interface of the color wheels from other platforms like Premiere Pro and Resolve, which caused external developers to design color wheel plugins especially for FCPX, like the great Color Finale developed by Denver Riddle. Now FCPX offers its own in-house color wheels, and it’s about time.
Color wheels
Furthermore, the Color Curves makes it a much more trivial grading tool from a user experience point of view, and looks much more similar compared to the good old DaVinci Resolve interface, which is an improvement.
Also demonstrated was the new simplicity of adding new LUTs, which significantly facilitates the process when LUTs are needed.
Adding LUTs
HDR feature
It seems that these days HDR is one of the hot topics in our industry (see our detailed article here). FCPX now has the option to handle HDR inside the color gamut of Rec. 2020 in order to expand the range of the reds and the greens.
Rec.2020
When grading HDR images, the scopes don’t stop at 100 anymore, but rather go up to 10,000, granting the colorist a huge range to play with while preserving image detail.
Scopes reach over 100
Judging by the presentation, it looks like handling HDR on FCPX is a piece of cake.
360 VR
FCPX 10.4 now offers the brand-new 360 Viewer, which allows you to work as if you’re viewing with a headset.
360 VR and Headset
There is also an option for 360 titles, which – when combined with the magnetic timeline – seems to make titling a straightforward and friendly process. Furthermore, there are some 360 new filters (effects) to get started with.
360 filters and effects
Editing 8K footage
The ability to playback 8K footage on the iMac Pro was also demonstrated in the presentation, proving that the new iMac Pro and FCPX 10.4 could be a winning combination with the potential to smoothly handle 8K footage with effects applied. Indeed, playback went smooth without any drops in the timeline.
Watch the full presentation below:
Conclusion
Based on this presentation, it really seems like FCPX is offering some powerful new features and capabilities. However, these “new” features don’t impress me as much: the old color palette should have been replaced years ago, and Premiere Pro already offered 360 editing capabilities.
There is, however, no doubt about the significant synergy between FCPX and iMac Pro which raises its credibility regarding demanding editing tasks. But we just have to wait and see if the 10.4 is powerful enough to edit an 8K feature. The most important “features” regarding pro editing are speed and reliability. We editors expect the software to get the job done without any delays or crashes.
What do think about these features? Have you used FCPX 10.4 yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Once upon a time, there were film cameras and the cinematography world was a small niche dedicated only for professionals who used cameras that costed a fortune. The independent filmmaking world as we know it didn’t exist and making a film (even a short) was considered a heavy operation.
Much water has gone under the bridge since then, and these days most people own a camera and can go and make movies. Not that this is a bad thing, but where there is a need, there is also someone who would deliver – I’m talking about the cameras and software companies who have got crazy about unleashing their creativity in order to produce more and more products for enthusiasts and professionals like us. Let’s remember this year’s craziness.
The Grand Battle of the NLEs
When Blackmagic Design released its video tutorial to help FCP 7 users migrate to Resolve, I wrote an article that generated heated discussions mainly between FCPX, DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro users who tried to justify their NLE weapon of choice.
BMD indeed implemented many features, which I can honestly say from a perspective as a past software product manager, were pretty impressive in terms of software development. Anyone can see that the main goal is to attract users and persuade them to migrate to Resolve for not only grading, but also for editing.
Of course, Apple and Adobe fought back, releasing tons of feature of their own.
It is important to note that more features are not an indicator of software efficiency. As an editor, I know that the most crucial part in the NLE is SPEED! One can design a very complex and impressive piece of software with a lot of new features that can only result in impaired speed. Indeed, users have reported of slowed workflow with the premature software, and say that it is impossible to edit a decent project on a laptop using Resolve as a NLE, and I’m not even talking about 4K footage.
These days, there is a lot of choice for editors. The graphical user interface across all software is very similar, and the migration process has been made easy. However, I wish NLE companies would concentrate more on improving speed than developing cool 360 VR effects. Editors need to cut, but to cut fast. Simple as that.
In summary, I do think that, despite all this criticism, Blackmagic Design is the innovator of the year with regards to software. The speed of their software needs improvements, but they are on the right track.
The Grand Battle in Hardware: PC builders vs. iMac Pro future owners
Build your own PC or buy an iMac Pro? This is the question.
When Apple released its iMac Pro, my article gathered a few dozen comments criticizing the steep price of having the privilege of editing with this machine. Yes, the iMac Pro is a beast for the Pros starting at $4999, going up to $13,199. Many readers claimed that it would be a lot more efficient to build your own PC. In fact, it seemed that our readers were divided into two groups: those who prefer to buy a complete machine and those who build it from scratch component after component. Judging from the comments, it seems that it’s very hard to build a pro machine for vast editing tasks, and it wouldn’t present a huge difference regarding price. But there was a rough discussion, no doubt about it.
In the era of high-resolution editing and rendering (we’ll take a look at that in a minute), it looks like there is no such thing as the perfect machine. You will have to pay a lot, though, no matter if it’s a PC or an iMac Pro, that’s for sure.
The biggest significant advantage of a Mac is that all the components and the software are assembled by the same company, and thus there is synergy. That’s true when working on a Mac with FCPX, but if you are editing with Premiere Pro, it’s a whole other thing.
Although the battle of Mac vs PC is not new, it does seems like it has become tougher due to today’s higher editing requirements demanding more from the necessary hardware..
It will be interesting to see who will throw the knockout!
The Biggest Innovation of 2017 – 360 VR filmmaking…?
Remember films in 3D? Well, it hasn’t gone away. Far from having become a mainstream tool in filmmaking, it’s still around.
From my perspective, cinema is cinema. What is so beautiful about films is that film is film. It is a product that allows us to escape reality and feel different for a couple of minutes or hours by creating a meaningful experience. From what I have seen until now, this experience has not been elevated by 3D.
I do think that this will be the same in regards to VR 360. Many companies have been quickly developing tools (both software and hardware) to try and satisfy the increased need for something new. Take for example the GoPro Fusion, or Lytro’s Immerse 2.0 – an insane, ultra-expensive VR tool. Also, there are the new VR editing tools developed by FCPX and Premiere Pro.
What I am trying to point out is that developing the most innovative tools in this conservative field might actually end up backfiring. My prediction for the upcoming year is that we’ll see 360 VR filmmaking fade out somewhat – but only time will tell. It could also be the beginning of something new that has little to do with traditional cinema.
The Year of 8K… but what about 4K?
RED started it, and RED is still trying to lead. I’m talking about the race to the peak of maximum resolution.
At a point where many are still not well-enough prepared for dealing with 4K footage, RED has already started smashing us with 8K cameras, making this a “standard” we’ll have to live with.
Many say 8K is the most “natural” resolution compared to what our eye sees, but it is important to note that 8K is not a new venture at all. RED announced the Weapon 8K back in 2015, and even then RED wasn’t even the first in 8K. Astro Design announced the 8K-capable AH-4800 camera back in 2013, but it seems like all of a sudden it has now become mainstream. Fanning the flames of this madness, RED also announced the Monstro 8K VV full-frame sensor in 2017.
One of the other 8K surprises in 2017 was none other than an 8K camcorder from Sharp, designed for broadcasting stunning 8K images right into your living room.
Of course, this is far from being the end of the race, as there is talk of 10K cameras capable of delivering much more natural images. I can only imagine the computer specs required to edit and render this huge amount of data (iMac Pro Plus, anyone?).
Other manufacturers have continued to bring more affordable high-end cameras to the sub-$10K market, like the Canon C200 or the Panasonic EVA1 – and in this field, 4K has finally really become the standard.
The Year of Open-Source Innovation
For the finale, I’d like to mention this most fascinating initiative which reminds me of back in my startup days when we wanted to change the world from our garage. A lot of great companies were invented that way (Facebook, Google, Amazon and even Apple), and now we have something in the cinema camera market, a very cool project called Axiom. The goal is to develop a fully-functional 4K (and beyond) open-source cinema camera. Initiatives like this have the potential to disrupt the camera world.
Final thoughts
So, what did 2017 leave us? Ultra-powered computers built from scratch, NLE battles, VR 360 “innovation”, “standard” 8K and open-source cameras. Although these advanced technologies are fascinating, we must not forget that a film is a film. The goal is to tell a compelling story: the art itself is the most important thing. In this ocean of technology, be first and foremost an artist and a filmmaker. Let us remember that!
What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments.

Adobe Creative Cloud has released a video demonstrating the tools needed to edit 360 VR videos, plus some downloadable assets for you to try yourself!
For editors who haven’t been worked with 360 VR yet, this article sums up the techniques to do so in Premiere Pro with a few helpful tips.
Toggle VR Display button
The first stage is to find the Toggle VR Video Display button and drag it to the monitor Tool Bar for better access, as shown in the screenshot below.
Toggle VR Video Display
The Toggle VR Video Display allows you to click and drag around the 360 footage in order to explore different angles. From that point, you can apply effects to the footage as usual.
It’s worth taking a comprehensive look at the tutorial since it highlights the common artifacts in 360 VR editing and explains how to eliminate them by using regular effects in Premiere Pro.
VR 360 Effects
VR Effects in PP
The tutorial also demonstrates Premiere Pro’s library of dedicated VR effects and how to control them. They are not much different from regular video effects, besides them being specifically dedicated for VR 360 use.
VR 360 Logos & Text
360 VR Logo & Text in PP
Furthermore, the tutorial shows how to implement logos and add text to VR 360 videos. It’s interesting to explore the changes in the logo’s shape when switching between a regular view to a 360 view by using the Toggle VR Display button.
In order to place logos correctly in a 360 environment, there is a very useful tool called VR Rotate Sphere, which allows you to conform the logo correctly with the perspective dimensions of the 360 video.
Transitions
The video also gives practical solutions regarding 360 VR transition artifacts and how to deal with them by using Premiere Pro’s tools and specific 360 transitions in a pretty straightforward manner. The rule of thumb is to just use the dedicated VR 360 transitions instead of the regular transitions in order to get a much more natural 360 look.
To follow along with this tutorial, download the 360/VR assets from here.
To sum it up, if you’re going to do some VR 360 editing, we really recommend you watch this short but very simple video, as it demonstrates the whole tool box of effects and options to edit VR 360 in Premiere Pro.
Have you got any experience with VR 360 editing in Premiere Pro? Let us know in the comments below!

Blackmagic Design released a tutorial video to help FCP 7 users migrate to Resolve. Helpful tool, or just an excuse for Blackmagic to show off their potential of becoming the next industry-standard professional NLE?
With Apple’s announcement of MacOS High Sierra came the End of Life for Final Cut Pro 7, forcing many savvy editors to recalculate their route to a new professional NLE platform. Blackmagic Design jumped at the opportunity to release a video demonstrating the very soft landing when transitioning from FCP 7 to the new DaVinci Resolve 14.
Although aimed primarily at FCP 7 users, the video may appeal to other NLE as it gently encourages them reconsider switching to Blackmagic Design’s platform. Why? Because it really is an impressive NLE system with very professional and unique capabilities.
The GUI (Graphical User Interface) looks slick, engaging, simple and usable, reminiscent of a hybrid platform between FCP X and Premiere Pro rather than FCP 7. It reminds you of FCP X without the magnetic timeline.
In the video, Blackmagic explains that the purpose of the tutorial is to help FCP 7 editors make the transition to Resolve by demonstrating similar interfaces, trimming models and keywords. Upon taking a closer look, though, it seems that a solid portion of the video is dedicated to FCP X editors and PP editors as well.
New features include performance improvements and the audio post-production suite Fairlight. In addition, DaVinci Resolve 14 includes tons of new features for editors and colorists, including dozens of new effects such as automatic facial recognition and tracking so users can quickly refine and enhance faces in their sequences.
The Fairlight platform inside DV Resolve. A Fully functioning DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for recording, enhancing and mixing audio tracks.
Face refinement filter tracks faces in Resolve Studio. It is really amazing taking into consideration FCPX lacks the option of tracking unless third party plugins are used.
Moreover, DaVinci Resolve Studio offers outstanding features like film grain emulations, flares, accurate filters and more.
Blackmagic knows that switching NLEs is like getting divorced and married again. It is a hard thing to do that requires a lot of courage. Although for many FCP 7 users the obvious transition would be to FCPX, Blackmagic Design badly wants those users and Apple just gave them momentum.
Let’s face it: a professional NLE platform that includes an industry-standard color grading suite and now a state-of-the-art DAW armed with solid technological features certainly makes DaVinci stick out of the crowd.
Regarding price, the Studio version is now available for only $299 – less than the cost of most annual Cloud-based subscription plans, and the same price as FCP X.
Will FCP 7 users recognise DaVinci Resolve as the next natural step? Or should editors wait until the convention in Cupertino at the end of October in order to explore if FCP X should be their weapon of choice? Let us know in the comments section below.

This is kind of a breaking news since we’ve just discovered a very serious issue with the latest 2017.1 update for Adobe Premiere Pro CC in conjunction with 10-bit files from the Panasonic GH5 camera!
EDIT: Here is an official response by Adobe’s Bill Roberts taken from his comment below: “The camera in question was just released in March. Panasonic did a custom 10bit implementation that we did not have time to fully qualify for this release, hence – it’s currently not supported. We WILL support it in an update”.
Premiere Pro vs. GH5
It seems that the latest update for Premiere Pro CC has a major flaw when handling 10-bit video files from the Panasonic GH5. Since the previous version (2017) wasn’t exactly performing at its best where GH5 files were concerned, we were eager to see if this issue had been resolved with the latest 2017.1 update which is available as of now.
Unfortunately, the issue doesn’t seem to be resolved at all. It’s even worse: Premiere Pro will handle the 10-bit files imported straight from the GH5 as simple audio files. No video whatsoever. Alternatively, the files work flawlessly in VLC player.
The issue, however, only applies to 10-bit files, with Premiere importing and handling 8-bit files as intended. Also, the playback performance seems to have increased with these 8-bit files.
Adobe, where is the video?
As you can see in the screenshot above, an imported 10-bit video clip shows up as an audio track. No video there… After a bit of research, I found several Reddit topics on this matter. There’s an ongoing discussion on the previous (2017) version of Premiere Pro and its performance with GH5 video files. And there is another topic about the exact same issue I’m reporting on right here right now.
I would strongly advice to not perform the update until the issue has been revised by Adobe. Let’s hope they will fix this quickly!
Head over to Adobe for the full press release regarding this update, and those for After Effects and Audition.
That’s it for now. Over and out.
UPDATE: below is the official Adobe answer to the problem. (Thank you Jose).

With the latest update to Adobe Premiere Pro CC, you are now able to create open captions as well as closed captions without the need to ever leave the NLE. If you are in need of a quick and easy way to subtitle your work, this is something that’s definitely worth a look!
Closed Captions Made Easy
Premiumbeat’s Jason Boone has just released a video tutorial in which he discusses the new captioning capabilities in Adobe Premiere Pro CC. This update makes it possible to not only create open captions (which are nothing more than burnt in subtitles) as well as the so-called closed captions, which the viewer is able to toggle on or off as well as switch between different languages. Well, if someone had the patience to type them all into the editor, that is.
How to Create Closed Captions
The process is really pretty straight forward. It can be broken down in 4 simple steps:
insert captions (new item > captions) and choose your video setting
choose your captions format (closed or open captions)
edit captions (writing, formatting, timing)
export (burnt in or sidecar file)
That’s it, really. You no longer need a third party tool for this task, at least if the available settings meet your needs in terms of formatting options and so on. The options are quite limited, but to my mind subtitles don’t need to be super fancy.
the captions editor in Premiere Pro CC
Conclusion
Watching the video above, the process seems to be very simple and straight forward. But in the end, we’re talking about a tiny plugin within a NLE, and I’m not entirely sure if I would want to create closed captions for a 90min piece that way. Maybe other third-party solutions like MacCaption (CaptionMaker on Windows – website) might be the more efficient tool when it comes to projects with a lot of text. On the other hand, the closed caption tool is deeply integrated within Premiere Pro and it comes as a free update, while the MacCaption software starts at $1,095 up to a whooping $6,235. That’s only reasonable if you are doing A LOT of professional work on a daily basis.
What do you think? A much welcomed feature or something you don’t really need? Let us know in the comments section below!
source: Premiumbeat.com

North America’s most eagerly anticipated film festival is now under way. For 30 years, the Sundance Festival has highlighted the work of American and international filmmakers alike. Countless attendees have reveled in the creativity and brilliance that has been displayed annually since 1985. In the year of the festival’s origin, the Coen brothers’ debut film Blood Simple was the talk of the town—3 decades later, Adobe Premiere Pro seems to be having a similar effect!
Adobe has a lot to shout about with regards to this year’s Sundance festival. It seems that Premiere Pro—and the rest of the Creative Cloud platform—have been making waves this year, with a recent announcement stating that a total of 51 films that are debuting at this year’s indie-loving event. What’s more, the festival, which highlights some of the biggest and brightest emerging talent from the filmmaking industry, is set to showcase a total of 175 films which have utilized Adobe’s software.
In case you enjoy the numbers game, that’s apparently a 143% increase in usage since last year’s Sundance. I’d be willing to bet that there are a few smiling faces at Adobe right now!
One thing that will certainly please the folks at Adobe is the fact that it is not just the indie Sundance talent that has converted to Premiere Pro. Nope, some of Hollywood’s biggest hitters have crossed over to the Creative Cloud, too.
Sundance Festival 2016’s Creative Crowd
As I’ve already alluded to, there’s been a bit of traffic headed in Adobe’s direction from former Avid and Final Cut maestros—including the likes of four-time Oscar-winners the Coen brothers and Deadpool director Tim Miller. Adobe Premiere Pro has made that much of a stir that Miller, along with Deadpool’s editing consultant and workflow specialist Vashi Nedomansky, will be going into more detail as to why they’ve made the switch in Adobe’s panel—Editorial Secrets From “Hail, Caesar!” And “Deadpool”—which is scheduled for 15:30-16:30, January 23rd.
Thankfully, for those of us who are unable to attend, Adobe are making a recording available at www.adobe.com/go/video.
Regarding Adobe Premiere Pro, Miller said “Adobe really revamped Premiere Pro CC from the ground up. I love the interoperability with other programs like After Effects CC and the ability to do quick composites,” he then went on to add “we need an uninterrupted workflow between the idea and output. Premiere Pro CC is clean and fast, which is what I want.”
Of course, it’s not just film-industry elites making the switch, plenty of Sundance Festival 2016’s indie productions used Adobe’s creative software. With everything from in-competition feature films like Christine and Swiss Army Man to documentaries and shorts such as Richard Linklater – Dream is Destiny, Adobe’s Creative Cloud video tools have impacted on plenty of the Sundance Festival filmmakers’ workflow.
“Our story relies on combining decades-old archival footage with interviews from the present. We cut the film in Adobe Premiere Pro CC with incredible results,” explained Louis Black, co-director of Richard Linklater – Dream is Destiny.
Adobe’s Investment in the Future of Filmmaking
This year, Adobe are sponsoring the NEXT category of films—a category of outspoken works which combine digital technology with uninhibited creativity. NEXT embodies the innovative, bold spirit that is ubiquitous among indie filmmakers—it looks to revolutionize the next generation of filmmaking in a way that is truly unique.
In a further move to get the word out about up-and-coming filmmakers, Adobe has also partnered with Sundance Ignite, via Project 1324—an initiative designed to provide promising young talent a chance at spotlighting their projects. The winners of this initiative will go on to receive a Sundance Ignite Fellowship, which comes with opportunities to work with—and learn from—Sundance alumni.
What’s next for the Creative Cloud?
So, what’s in the pipeline following Adobe’s Sundance success?
Fortunately for the recent converts, as well as current users of the Creative Cloud, Adobe won’t be resting on their laurels. As impressive as the numbers are for this year’s festival, it seems that Adobe is aiming higher for next year’s outing.
Some of Creative Cloud’s video tools are due an update before the end of January, and here’s a taste of what’s to come:
General performance enhancements within the cloud, most noticeably to Premiere Pro
100,000 4K high-quality video assets are to be added to the video content available in Adobe Stock. Premiere Pro and After Effects CC users will have the ability to search, download, and license the assets available on Adobe Stock. This feature is already a part of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator
The Cineware Live 3D pipeline is set to be enhanced with improved workflow and performance. For the first time, OpenGL rendering will be available, with vast improvements in speed over the current software rendering option
Compositing will become more efficient, thanks to Live Link allowing the synchronization of the timelines between After Effects CC and Cinema 4D
Specific Takes can be rendered from within a Cinema 4D project file
Does the Festival’s Love of the Cloud Indicate a Lasting Trend?
Whether you’re an Avid fan, a Final Cut follower, or an Adobe junkie, one thing is undeniable. An increase in Adobe CC use of 143% is certainly an impressive feat. Could this be indicative of a power shift in the world of video editing for professionals and amateurs alike?
Who knows? It is certainly exciting to think of a world where Avid Media Composer has some serious competition—and maybe Adobe’s Sundance success can be what spurs them on to really take their video editing software to the next level!
Either way, I am looking forward to seeing the quality that Premiere Pro has been producing lately—and thanks to Sundance Festival 2016, I’ll have 175 opportunities to find out!
Do you think that Adobe could be tipping the scales of video editing in their favor? Have you tried using Premiere Pro recently and if so, how was it? Let us know in the comments!